Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus, a method of controlling a communication apparatus, and a storage medium, and in particular relates to a technique for controlling activation and stopping of each communication interface in a communication apparatus equipped with a plurality of wireless communication interfaces including a wireless LAN with an object of reducing power consumption.
Description of the Related Art
As an approach for power saving control when not yet communicating by a wireless LAN interface, a “Radio On Demand Network” technique of activating a host system when a “Wake On WLAN” or a specific wake up signal is received which developed a sleep mechanism has been proposed (adaptive communication research center, “unnecessary power consumption reducing Radio On Demand Networks”, http://www.acr.atr.jp/research/#rod/). Also, an “Alert Notification Profile” for notifying an opposing apparatus of the occurrence of an event using Bluetooth (registered trademark) 4.0 LE, for which power consumption is small compared to a wireless LAN interface, as a wireless communication medium is standardized (BLUETOOTH PROFILE SPECIFICATION, “Alert Notification Profile”, Technical Specification).
Also, a protocol for handing over to a differing wireless communication method such as, for example, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, from NFC (Near Field Communication) is standardized by the NFC Forum (NFC Forum, http://www.nfc-forum.org/home/). By realizing a handover using NFC, a high speed a communication path of wireless LAN or Bluetooth is established by two smartphones simply approaching each other, and a large amount of data can be transmitted/received. In recent years, commercialization of a wireless combination chip combining a plurality of wireless communication functions of NFC, wireless LAN, and Bluetooth are being investigated by chip makers.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-306201, an ad hoc connection wireless communication system wherein an inactive state is set other than during a communication processing interval in which processing necessary for the data communication is performed, using a low-power communication unit capable of wireless communication with another information terminal apparatus by a power consumption less than that of a data communication unit is disclosed.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-259172, a communication apparatus that transmits a switching signal for switching between a normal mode and a power saving mode of a second communication unit (WLAN) by a signal received intermittently by a first communication unit (BAN: Body Area Network) is disclosed.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-258984, a wireless communication apparatus that transmits a control signal which is a power on signal to a content reproduction apparatus by an infrared communication unit and also initiates activation processing for a Bluetooth communication unit when a power source is turned on is disclosed.
In this way, in a portable communication apparatus that operates by a battery, control is desired in which, when a power saving operation is requested, a wireless LAN interface in particular is only caused to operate when necessary data communication is performed, and for an interval other than this, the wireless LAN interface is stopped.
In a case where pairing is executed by an NFC handover, while connection can be performed wirelessly between apparatuses by a method such as wireless LAN, Bluetooth, for example, it is unclear at what timing the data transfer is initiated on each of the communication apparatuses. Accordingly, even though the data transfer does not start, a wireless communication function such as wireless LAN, or Bluetooth remains activated and waiting after the handover. In such a case, in a portable type communication apparatus in particular, in a communication standby state other than one in which data transfer is being performed, an unnecessary consumption of power occurs.